Ever since Conchita Wurst won last year’s Eurovision Song Contest, she’s been gracing the world (and many red carpets) with her glamour. The Austrian recording artist and drag queen has released a biography called Being Conchita: We Are Unstoppable, which talks about how she wore a skirt in kindergarten and her struggles as a gay teenager. In an interview with The Guardian, Conchita talks about how she doesn’t fulfill “the assumptions made of a mainstream drag queen.”

“People say they’re confused by how calm and quiet I am. When I created Conchita I thought there were expectations of me and I was very loud, and I had this bitchiness that some drag artists have, which I think is hilarious, but it wasn’t me. I realised it’s fine to be another type of drag queen.”

Conchita also talks about having to clarify her role as a drag artist when people make the assumption she is a trans woman. “I am happy being a man in a dress. Some people get confused and think I’m a trans woman, but I’m strict about the difference. What I do is performance, it’s staged, it’s glamour—it’s not real life. But for trans people, being born in the wrong body—there’s nothing glamorous or easy about that,” she said.

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She also describes meetings with Jean Paul Gaultier and Karl Lagerfeld. Gaultier was the first famous person to give her recognition and also voted for her on Eurovision 73 times.

I like this quote on Lagerfeld:

My grandmother always smelt of menthol. And when I met Karl Lagerfeld, he smelt exactly the same. It made me feel cosy and at home.

Since her big win, Conchita has become a strong advocate for LGBT rights and has performed at both the United Nations and European Parliament.